Bottle-capping machine.



Q PATENTED- JULY 28, 1908. T. J. LEVEY. BOTTLE OAPPING MACHINE.

APPIJOATIJON FILED JULY 5, 1907.,

2 SIIEETS-SHEBT 1.

' nvenfoz No. 894,797. PATENTED JULY 28, 1908.

T. J. LEVEY. BOTTLE GAPPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 5, 1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

mute:

. THOMAS J. LEVEY, or WASHINGTON, DISTRICT or, COLUMBIA, assrcnoa orONE-THIRD TO nuns B. SHEARER, or BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, AND ONE-THIRD TOLINWOOD T. HEWITT, Y

machines, and has for its object to improve ciency and utility ofdevices of this character. I

of construction as hereafter shown and de I lever arm, Fig. 6 is a sideelevation,.enlarged,

, member, and Fig. 8 is a perspective view of ,which the following aspecification, reference being had therein to the accompanying tweenthese webs and bearing upon thebase OF SPARROWS POINT, MARYLAND.

Be-it known that'I, THOMAS J. LEVEY, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Washington, District of Columbia, have inventedcertain new-and useful Improvements in Bottle-Capping Machines, of

drawing:

This invention relates tov bottle cappin the construction and toincrease the eifi- 'ith this and other objects in. view, the inventionconsists n certain, novel features.

scribed and then'specifically pointed out in the claims.

In the drawingsemployed for illustrating an embodiment of the invention,Figure 1 represents a side elevation, partly in section, of the improvedapparatus,'Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the improved a aratus with theoperating lever in section, Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line3-3 of Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional detail of the main 0crating ortion of the device, Fig. 5 is a (l tached etail view enlarged,of the weighted of the tubular capping member, Fig. 7 is a bottom planview of the tubular capping the plunger rod of the capping mechanismdetached.

The improved device is designed tobe em-' ployed for attaching metalcaps to bottles and like receptacles, more particularly to bottles andlike receptacles containing efiervescentliquids or liquids underpressure, and for the purpose of illustration, the device is shownarranged for applying caps of this character to the conventional form ofbottle, a portion of one of which is shown in conncction with F ig. 4. p

The improved device comprises a supporting standard 10, preferablyribbed as represented in Fig. 3, to secure the requisite strengthwithout adding undue weight, and with alaterally extending base or foot.11. Webs 12 are arranged between the vertical portion 10 and the baseportion 11, and be- Specification of Letters Patent.

Applicationfiledhfly 5, 1907-. Serial No. 382,261.

encumbering the block 13.

portion is a block 13 preferably of wood, and

' no'rrnn-carrme macnmn.

fill:v upon which the bottle to capped is posed. The block 13 isarranged with its rear edge spaced away from the front of the standardportion 10, to leave a cavity 14 into which fragments of glass or othermaterial which may be accidentally broken off from the bottles will findtheir way, and thus avoid Disposed upon block 13 are two stop blocks15-16, having their contiguous faces reversely inclined and againstwhich the bottle bears as indicated by the dotted circle in F ig. 3, thetwo members 1516, thus iositioning the bottle accurately beneath thecapping mechanism.

Thebase member 11 is provided with numerous apertures 17 to receiveholding bolts or screws to enable the base with its standard 10 to besecured to a suitable foundation, when it is desired to so support thedevice, and the standard 10 is provided with lateral wings 18 providedwith bolt or screw receiving apertures, to enable the device to beattached to a vertical wall or other su'p ort if desired. Opposite thelower pair of t e lat- -'t is means the device may 'be used in anydesired manner.

' Extending forwardly of the standard 10 intermediate its ends is a web20 to the outer end of which is secured an integral sleeve 21,

said sleeve receiving and formin a working barrel for a plunger 22." Thep unger 22 is reduced at its lower end to receive a-tubular cappingmember 23, the capping memberlte ing secured .in tending throug reducedortion of the shown in i s. 1 and 4.

plunger as clearly The tubular, ca ping member 23 isforined place byvtransverse pins'24 exthe cap member and into the with. two internaannular ribs 255- 26,. the

rib 26 being slightly larger than the rib 25, or with the inner diameterof the rib 25 sli 'htly larger than the inner diameter of the rib 26,the ribs being connected by inclined faces or ortions, as shown moreclearly in Fig. 4. y this arrangement the inner surface 0" the inclinefor a relatively'sh'ort distance, then inclinedoutwardly at a longerlncllne, and

2 tubular capping member 23'at the 0 en end is first inclined inwardlyat a relat ve ysharp inclinedinwardly again at a still longer incline,terminating at the upperedge of the rib 26 and thenceextending'orlzontally. to

'the main inner face of the tubular member. .For the'purpose ofclearness-in the description of-the o eration, the lower inclinedportionfof the r1 25 is designated 27, the upper end of the inclinedportion 25 is designated 28,. the longer inclined portionof the rib 26is designated 29, while the square or lateral shoulder of the rib 26 isdesignated 30. The

lower lportion of the tubular capping member 23 inc uding the ribs 25-3.6 is-formed with a plurality of clefts represented at 31, andextendinglongitudinal y of the tubular capping member from its lower endfor approximately one-half its length, so that the cleft lower ,portionof the member 23 may be'distended lon itudinal under-pressure during th?capping operation, as. hereafter explained.

The plun er 22 is formed with an internal aperture, and slidablydisposed in tins aperture is a rod 32, the lower end of the rodisthreaded as at 33 to receive a capping head .34, the outer annularsurface of the lower ortion of the head 34 being cylindrical anr theupper portion inclined inwardly and conformingsubstantially to theinclined surfaces'28, 29 of the member 23,

but of less diameter than the same. The cylindricalportion ol' the head34 is preferably connected rod 32 yieldably in their lower position.'lheupper end of the rod 32 above the plunger 22 18 formed with a T-head39, and pivoted at 40 to thisT'head is a lever 41, bifurcated at itsinner end to bear upon opposite-sides of the T-head-Bf) and with aweight 42 at its free outer end. The lever 41 is formed with cam fares4-3 upon its bifurcated portion adapted to bear upon the upper face ofthe plunger 22, the lever 41 being also provided with an elongated slot44, the

object to be hereafter explained.

Pivotod at 45 in the uppi 1' end of the. standard 10 is an operatinglever-'46, and the plunger 22 is provided with an upwardly extendingshank or stem 47 coupled by a link to the lever 46 by pins 49--5(). Bythis arrangement it will be obvious that the vertical movement of thelever 46 will 0 erate the plunger 22. Depending from the ever 46 is arod 51, the rod extending through the slot 44 of the lever 41 and withan enlarged head 52 at its lower end, the head preventing the rod 51from being disengaged from the slot in the lever 41. The lever 46extends rearwardly of the standard 10 for a short distance and is formedwith a terminal hook 53 to receive one end of a spring 54, the lower endof the spring'connected to a threaded rod 55 provided with a wing nut 56bearing beneath a bracket 57 attached as by a bolt 58 to the standard10. 'l he spring 4 operates to return the lever 46 and the plunger 22 totheir normal elevated positions, and the threaded rod 55 and its nut 56enable the tension of-the spring to be regulated as reuired.

With a device thus constructed the o eration is as follows: 'i he metalcaps (J, \v iioh are to be attached to the bottle neck B are provided inblank, either as flat disks, or as ,block 13 and against the blocks15--16 ith its upper end beneath the lower edge-of the slittedorrleftmember 23, the parts b ing in the position shown in Fig. 1. is shown inFig. l. oft-he drawings, the parts are in the position they assume whenthe tubular capping mcmberQB has engagedthe capi, and the head 34 isresting upon said 'cap. In this position, the operating lever 46 hasbeen moved downwardly from the incline at which it normally rests whenin the inactive position, to a position substantially horizontal asshown in said high 1. 'lhis downward move.- mcnt ol' the operating lever46 has moved the capping memberpartly over the cap C, the cap beingpermitted to enter the capping member on ing to the beveled or inclinediace 27 provided at the lower end ofsaid capping member. The head 34 ispermitted to move down to this position, owing to sulhcicnt clearancebeing provided for such movement by the beveledorinclinedportion282!lprovided n the. capping member 23. l pon l'urt-her downward-movcment ofthe lever 46,

the capping member extends over the cap,

the rlefts in the capping member permitting the latter to expandslightly, yet at the same tii'ne maintaining a strong inward pressureupon the cap. Upon this further downward movement of the capping member23, the head 34 with its rod remains stationary, while the weightcd'end42 of the lever 41 follows the downward movement of the plunger andcapping member, until, when the extreme. lower position of the cappingmember is reached, the lever has assunu-d the position shown in Fig. 4of the drawings, aud, bearing by its-cam surfaces 43 constantly upon theupper face of the plunger, the parts are in the loc 'ed position. Inthis position of the parts the capping of the bottle has been completed,the capping member having crimpcd the edges of the car around the bottleneck. porting frame havingaplungerguide,aplun- Whenthe capping operationis completed, and pressure on the operating lever 46 is relieved, the.spring 54 acts toreturn the operating lever to its elevated position,and during the upward movement of said lever 46, the head 52 of the rod51 coming in engagement with lever 41, lifts this lever and returns italong with the lever 46, to the elevated position, releasing thecompression on spring 38, and allowing this spring to act to force thehead 34 downward to the position shown in Fig. l, the capping membermoves ofl' the capped bottle, the parts have been restored to theirnormal position and are ready for the capping of another bottle. v

- Disposed within the tubular member 23 and between the tubular memberand the extension 37 of the head member 34 is a stop sleeve 58, which issupported-on the lateral houlder 30 of the inclined portion 29, thesspring 38 being disposed between this stop s cave and the stem 32, asshown in Fig. 4.. The stop sleeve thus serves to )revent lateralmovement of the arts un er. the severe strains to which devices of thischaracter are liable to bejs'ubjected.

The improved device may be arranged to be operated manually, by a foottreadle, or steam or other and I do not wis therefore, to be limited toany specific operatin means,

Having thus. descri ed the invention, what is claimed as new, is:

1. In a device of the class planger movably disposed, a tubular memberhaving spaced clefts and depending from,

said plunger, a head member within said tubular member and having a stemextending through said plunger, a spring between said head member andplunger and operating to I maintain the plunger and head memberyieldable relative to each other, means for operating said plunger, andmeans for locking said plunger relative to said stem and connected headm'mber.

2. In a device of the class described, a supporting frame havin aplunger guide, a plunger movable throug said guide, a tubular memberdepending from said plunger and provided with spaced longitudinalclefts, a headimcmber within said tubular member and having a stemextending through said plunger, an operating lever swinging upon saidframe, coupling means between said it's plu'nger and lever, a weightedlocking lever swinging upon said stem and provided with cam facesadapted to lock said plunger relative to said stem and its attached headmember when the locking lever is in its downward position, and meansconnected to said operatingle er whereby the locking lever isreleased-ait-th'e upward movement of the op erating lever. i

3. In a device of the class described, a supoWer, as maybe required,

cribed, a

ger movable through said guide and provided with spaced arms extendingfrom its upper end, a tubular member depending from said plunger-andprovided with spaced longitudinal clcfts, a head member within saidtubular member and having a stem extending through said plunger andprovided with lateral extensions :11: the upper end and bearing uponsaid plunger, an o crating lever swinging upon said frame, a ink pivotedbetween said spaced arms at one end and coupled to the oierating leverat the other end, a weighted locking lever bifurcated at one end andbearing upon opposite sides of the later ally extended end of said stemand between said end and said spaced arms and rovided with rain facesadapted to lock sai plunger relative to said stem and its attached headmember when the locking lever is in its downward position, a pivot pincoupling said looking lever to said stem, and a rod swinging at one endfrom said operating lever and extending through said locking lever andprovided with a lateral enlargement at its free end.

4. In a device of the class described,-a supporting frame having aplunger guide, a plunger movable in said guide and provided with spacedarms at its upper end, a tubular member depending from. said plunger andead member within said .tubular member and provided with a stemextending through said plunger and with a laterally extending upper endadapted to bear upon said plunger, a spring between said head member andsaid plunger and operating to maintain said plunger and head memberyieldablc relative to each other, an operating lever pivoted to saidframe,- a spring operating to maintain said operating lever yieldably inits elevated position, a link swinging at one end between said plungerarms and at the other end from said operating lover, a weighted lockit-glever swinging from said stem and between said plunger arms and providedwith cam faces adapted to lock said plunger in its downward position,and. .a .rod swinging from said operating lever and extending throughsaid locking lever and provided with an enlargement at its free endadapted to engage the locking lever and release the same when theoperating lever is returned to'its upward position.

5. In a bottle capping machine, the combination with a support, of avertically movable capping member embodying a plunger, i

a tubular member carried by said plunger the slotted portion of thetubular member, a

s ring for moving said rod independently of l In tostinmny whereof Iaflix my signaturv t e,tu1bu1ar}'1member and p'lungar, means conin thepresence of two witnessvs. necte to t eu er part of sax rod and actr v tI p p 7 ing againstvthe iiunger to hold said rod ele- HIOMAB L1 5 ,Vatedand the aforesaid spring under com- 1 Witnesses:

pression; and means connected to the plung (1. N. Woommnn, gel foroperating the same. M. E; LQWRY.

